This
is Why I Write
Thoughts pound in my head, day after day, until I get them down on
paper. Each idea brings out a slice of what’s inside of me.
That may mean hours of writing fiercely, while thoughts flip
through my head and new ideas emerge. Other times it means crumbling up pages
of crossouts, or retyping one page over and over until I’m satisfied with how
it reads. Then there are times that are maddening; I can’t go forward or
backward, instead I stare at a blank page for hours.
Still I write. I can’t imagine how I could stop.
Writing is power. I control my writing. It’s as stable as I am. No
one can change it, except for me. I make all the decisions. Other people give
me advice, but I’m the one who puts the words on the paper.
As a writer, I am free. No one tells me what I can and can’t say.
I have to decide what part of me should be written, how much of me I want to
share. There are no rules or boundary lines to follow. Some things aren’t meant
to be written, but the only way to learn what they are is by writing them.
Writing isn’t all facts. The facts are what can be taught, but the
rest comes only from the writer. Teachers can give us guidelines, advice, and
encouragement that we’ll treasure, but the heart of a piece comes from us.
Writing is more than following rules and advice; it requires that the writer follow
her heart.
Writing expands me. It stimulates my mind. When I write, I feel
alive, I want to know everything. I’m always acquiring new skills. Soon after I
started writing I needed more answers than I could get from my English book or
from my parents. I started learning by studying how other people wrote, and
then picked up on my own mistakes. I pored over every bit of information I could
find. A lot of the time I improved subconsciously, absorbing new vocabulary and
techniques from all around me.
My writing is always changing. Sometimes I’m half way through a
page, and I’ll just rewrite it completely. What I find interesting about
writing is that I can see myself growing along with it. It makes me look at the
world through different perspectives, and helps me understand myself.
My writing gradually grows. I spend hours trying to capture the
core of myself within the empty pages of my journal. Over time, my writing
becomes more structured as I carefully choose every word that I use to make
them fly right off the page into my readers’ minds.
Writing is my companion. It’s what I do in my spare time. On rainy
summer days, while my mother works, my father is outside, and my sister is at a
friend’s house, I write. I pour out my deepest secrets, my strongest feelings.
This is what I do. This is why I write.
